Is It All Worth It?

Is It All Worth It?

Among Lynn's band of horse bandits, aside from himself and Lao San, no one else had a clear grasp of what it meant to be a noble or to manage a territory.

Their mindset remained stuck in the era of horse bandits; they lacked the necessary knowledge and possessed no patience to wait for the harvest.

Compared to Three Rivers City, which boasted a permanent population of eight thousand and five hundred prostitutes, White Bear Territory was truly a desolate backwater.

Aside from watching the giant bears bare their teeth, White Bear Territory had no other popular forms of entertainment.

If these energetic, single horse bandits were left to rot in the territory for long, waiting until the August or September harvest to sell grain and split the loot, it was highly probable that they would have caused an uproar long before then.

It wasn't that Lynn hadn't considered finding wives for this group of bandits to settle their restless hearts.

However, hindered by their true identities, it was clearly impossible to have them marry locally before he had complete control over the territory.

Lynn could, of course, rely on the prestige he had accumulated over the years to suppress these vicious bandits who hacked at people like they were chewing bread, letting the soft, expansive nature of White Bear Territory slowly erode their banditry.

But right now, he had a better method.

Paint a big picture, keep the bandits' loyalty and morale high at all times, and then use a potential enemy to ignite their fighting spirit.

The big picture was already painted; the salt mine sat right there, less than fifty kilometers from White Bear Territory, seemingly within reach.

The enemy had appeared as well: the Wild Tribes who had discovered the salt mine first.

By the time the big picture was fully baked, these horse bandits would essentially be able to complete a magnificent transformation, becoming the steadfast guardians of the territory.

"Big Brother, if we are to fight the Wild Tribes for the salt mine, I'm afraid our current manpower isn't enough."

Sure enough, Lynn had barely finished painting the picture before Lao Liu started preparing the sesame seeds.

But no sooner had Lao Liu finished speaking than Lao Si and Lao Wu began to clamor:

"Why wouldn't it be enough?"

"Exactly. We haven't even fought yet, and you're already backing down. Are you still a horse bandit?"

Although Lynn's group of horse bandits numbered only twenty-some men, every one of them was an elite. Each possessed at least one set of fine chainmail, and their weapons were top-tier for the Northern Border—they even had three heavy crossbows.

With their level of firepower, sweeping through a common barony would be like child's play. Moreover, they moved like the wind; pursuers wouldn't even see the dust kicked up by their horses' hooves.

Faced with the clamor of Lao Si and Lao Wu, Lao Liu once again assumed the posture of a teacher:

"Thirty years ago, the previous Marsh Duke dispatched five hundred knights—note, five hundred regular knights with squires. The entire army numbered no less than three thousand.

It took that kind of force to drive the Wild Tribes back to the Northern Wasteland, and even then, it was only driving them back; they weren't completely wiped out. It's only been thirty years, and the Wild Tribes are already heading south again. Think about it: how many of them must there be? Even if they aren't armored, if they all charge at once, their sheer numbers could crush us."

Scolded by Lao Liu, Lao Si and Lao Wu instantly deflated.

Lynn then took over the conversation:

"There's no need to inflate their prestige. The Wild Tribes must have suffered heavy casualties back then, otherwise they wouldn't only dare to operate in the depths of the forest. What we need to do now is find a way to ascertain the specific number of these Wild Tribes and the level of their weaponry.

I plan to levy corvée labor in the territory in May to build a road through the forest, and use this as an opportunity to make contact with the Wild Tribes. Before then, you must not slack off on training. Be ready for battle at all times. As long as we can completely occupy that salt mine, we can earn enough gold coins to fill this study."

Painting the big picture was only the first step; formulating a feasible plan was the crucial second step.

Through this plan, Lynn bound the horse bandits to the territory and pointed them toward a path forward.

"Understood, Big Brother!"

Lao Si and Lao Wu were instantly filled with fighting spirit, eager to drill their twenty subordinates overnight.

What did they risk their necks for as horse bandits?

Wasn't it for money they could never spend?

With money, where wouldn't they be like gods? Lao Liu then suggested: "Big Brother, I think we could try recruiting some militia in the territory. Training them for a few months might not be of much use, but at least it could bolster our momentum."

He was the fastest among the brothers to change his way of thinking, no slower than Lao San, who was out delivering letters.

He had already begun to think from the perspective of a territory manager and was attempting to mobilize the resources of the territory.

One had to admit, having read books really made one's mind sharper.

What Lao Liu could think of, Lynn naturally wouldn't miss.

"White Bear Territory already has conscripts. Those stewards and farm managers have weapons in their homes, and they keep horses in their stables that can carry men. Otherwise, what do you think they use to make the serfs obey? But the current farming tasks in White Bear Territory are already heavy enough; conscripting them for training would do more harm than good. However, I will consider your suggestion."

In the feudal manors of the Northern Border, rights and obligations were generally reciprocal.

Simply put, the more land you owned, the greater the responsibilities you had to bear.

The stewards and farm managers of White Bear Territory had already moved beyond the category of lower serfs, possessing large tracts of tax-free land and enjoying far more food than the lower serfs.

Correspondingly, they were tasked with managing the serfs and, when necessary, had to take up arms to follow the lord into battle.

As for the serfs who guarded their meager allotment land and could barely scrape by with enough to eat in a good year, they only needed to farm and pay taxes. Their physiques were not suited for the battlefield.

War was not simply a matter of comparing numbers. Weak soldiers who could not withstand an impact would only end up disrupting their own formations—a complete liability.

As for the lords and knights at the top of the territory, as the owners of the land, the responsibilities they bore were naturally the heaviest.

They needed to constantly hone their martial arts, temper their bodies, wait for the summons of higher-ranking nobles at any time, and be prepared to sacrifice themselves on the battlefield.

Lynn's patrol of the forest to the north, risking encounters with the Wild Tribes, was also a manifestation of a lord's responsibility.

Since he enjoyed the fruits of the local residents' labor, he needed to be responsible for all of them.

After the small meeting in the study concluded, Lao Si, Lao Wu, and Lao Liu left the castle with high spirits; their quarters were right next door.

They also had properties in several other manors.

The territories of the Northern Border lacked everything, but the one thing they never lacked was land and houses.

After the three left, Lao Er, who had been guarding the door to prevent eavesdropping, walked into the study: "Big Brother, it's getting late. Get some rest."

Lynn picked up his pen, preparing to continue working on the map, and looked up with a smile: "You've learned to care about people."

"Big Brother, ever since you became a baron, I feel like you haven't had a single hour to stop. Isn't it tiring?"

Having been in White Bear Territory for only ten days, Lao Er was already starting to miss the days of being a horse bandit.

Back then, they were so free and easy; they could go wherever they wanted and rob whoever they pleased.

Now, they were all trapped in this seemingly vast, yet actually narrow White Bear Territory, and Big Brother was so busy every day he couldn't even catch his breath.

He was either inspecting farms or scouting in the primeval forest.

Is it all worth it?